The present invention relates to a process cartridge and a remanufacturing method for the process cartridge. The process cartridge is a cartridge or unit which contains as a unit at least an electrophotographic photosensitive drum and developing means (developing member) and which is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
The electrophotographic image forming apparatus may be an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (a LED printer, a laser beam printer or the like), an electrophotographic printer type facsimile machine, an electrophotographic printer type word processor or the like.
In an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming process, a process cartridge type in which an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means actable on the electrophotographic photosensitive member are contained as a unit in a process cartridge which is detachably mountable to the main assembly of the image forming apparatus, has been used. The process cartridge type is advantageous in that maintenance operations can be performed not by a service person but by the user in effect, and therefore, the operation property has been significantly improved. Therefore, the process cartridge type is widely used in electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
The process cartridge forms an image on a recording material using a developer. Therefore, the developer is consumed with the image forming operation. When the developer is consumed up to such an extent that a user is not satisfied with the image quality, the commercial value of the process cartridge is lost.
It is desired that such a used process cartridge is given a commercial value, again by remanufacturing the process cartridge through an easy method.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a simple remanufacturing method for a process cartridge.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a remanufacturing method of a process cartridge wherein the process cartridge with which the developer is consumed to such an extent that a user is not satisfied with the image quality is recycled to be given a commercial value.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a remanufacturing method for a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the process cartridge comprises a first frame supporting an electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a second frame which supports a developing roller for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and which includes a developer accommodating portion accommodating a developer to be used for development of the electrostatic latent image by the developing roller, wherein the first frame and the second frame are rotatably coupled, the remanufacturing method comprising (a) a separating step of separating the first frame and the second frame from each other; (b) a developing roller dismounting step of dismounting the developing roller mounted in the second frame; (c) an elastic sealing member peeling step of peeling off an elastic sealing member for providing a seal between the second frame and the developing roller, wherein the elastic sealing member has been stuck in a longitudinal direction of the second frame; (d) an elastic sealing member sticking step of sticking a double coated tape on a seat on which the elastic sealing member has been stuck in a widthwise direction of the seat such that it protrudes toward the developing roller and resticking an elastic sealing member using the double coated tape; (e) a developer filling step of filling the developer into the developer accommodating portion; (f) a developing roller mounting step of mounting a developing roller to a second frame; and (g) a frame coupling step of coupling separated first and second frames with each other.